Editing Mark Antony (section)

====Ides of March====
Whatever conflicts existed between himself and Caesar, Antony remained faithful to Caesar, ensuring their estrangement did not last long. Antony reunited with Caesar at [[Narbo]] in 45 BC with full reconciliation coming in 44 BC when Antony was elected consul alongside Caesar. Caesar planned a new [[Roman-Parthian Wars|invasion of Parthia]] and desired to leave Antony in Italy to govern Rome in his name. The reconciliation came soon after Antony is said to have rejected an offer from [[Gaius Trebonius]], one of Caesar's generals, to join a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar.<ref>Broughton, p. 299</ref><ref>Bringmann, p. 272</ref> If such an offer was made, Antony made no mention of the matter to Caesar.

[[File:Vincenzo Camuccini - La morte di Cesare.jpg|thumb|right|upright=2|''[[The Death of Julius Caesar (Camuccini)|The Death of Julius Caesar]]'', as depicted by [[Vincenzo Camuccini]]. Caesar was assassinated on the [[Ides of March]] (15 March) 44 BC.]]

Soon after they assumed office together, the [[Lupercalia]] was held on 15 February 44 BC. The festival was held in honor of [[Lupa Capitolina|Lupa]], the she-wolf who suckled the infant orphans [[Romulus and Remus]], the founders of Rome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tonykline.co.uk/index.php|title=A.S. Kline &#124; Author and Translator|website=tonykline.co.uk}}</ref> The political atmosphere of Rome at the time of the festival was deeply divided. Caesar had by this point centralised almost all political powers into his own hands. He was granted further honors, including a form of semi-official [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|cult]], with Antony as his high priest.<ref>Fuller, Chapter 13</ref> Additionally, on 1 January 44 BC, Caesar had been named [[Roman dictator|''dictator perpetuo'']], removing any formal end to his autocratic powers. Caesar's political rivals feared this dictatorship with no end date would transform the Republic into a monarchy, abolishing the centuries of rule by the [[SPQR|senate and people]]. During the festival's activities, Antony publicly offered Caesar a [[diadem]], which Caesar threw off. When Antony placed the diadem in his lap, Caesar ordered the diadem to be placed in the [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus]].<ref name="auto">Plutarch, ''Antony'', 12</ref>

When Antony offered Caesar the crown, there had been minor applause but mostly silence from the crowd. When Caesar refused it, however, the crowd was enthusiastic.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination|last=Strauss |first=Barry |year=2016 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1451668810 |pages=62}}</ref> The event presented a powerful message: a diadem was a symbol of a king. By refusing it, Caesar demonstrated he had no intention of making himself king. Antony's motive for such actions is not clear and it is unknown if he acted with Caesar's prior approval or on his own.<ref name="auto"/> While commonly described as an event that was "scripted", who was central to planning it is unclear. One argument is that Antony moved forward with the gesture on his own accord, possibly to embarrass or flatter Caesar. A later claim was that he was actually trying to convince Caesar not to go through with a kingship. By other accounts, it was Caesar's enemies who planned the incident as a way to frame him, with it being claimed two enemies of Caesar approached him to argue he should take the diadem. Another theory, one especially popular at the time, was that Caesar himself had orchestrated the event to test public support on him becoming king.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination|last=Strauss |first=Barry |year=2016 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1451668810 |pages=61–63}}</ref>

A group of senators resolved to kill Caesar to prevent him from establishing a monarchy. Chief among them were [[Marcus Junius Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus]]. Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of [[tyrannicide]], Brutus, with his family's history of deposing Rome's kings, became their leader.<ref>Broughton, p. 320</ref> [[Cicero]], though not personally involved in the conspiracy, later claimed Antony's actions sealed Caesar's fate as such an obvious display of Caesar's preeminence motivated them to act.<ref>Cicero, ''2nd Philippic'', 34</ref> Originally, the conspirators had planned to eliminate not only Caesar but also many of his supporters, including Antony, but Brutus rejected the proposal, limiting the conspiracy to Caesar alone.<ref>[[Velleius Paterculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2B*.html#58 2.58.5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731043323/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2B%2A.html#58 |date=31 July 2022 }}; [[Plutarch]], ''Brutus'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Brutus*.html#18 18.2–6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731043834/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Brutus%2A.html#18 |date=31 July 2022 }}.</ref> With Caesar preparing to depart for [[Parthia]] in late March, the conspirators prepared to act when Caesar appeared for the senate meeting on the [[Ides of March]] (15 March).

Antony also went with Caesar, but was waylaid at the door of the [[Theatre of Pompey]] by Trebonius and was distracted from aiding Caesar. According to the Greek historian [[Plutarch]], as Caesar arrived at the senate, [[Lucius Tillius Cimber]] presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/m_brutus.html|title=The Internet Classics Archive &#124; Marcus Brutus by Plutarch|website=classics.mit.edu|access-date=18 March 2014|archive-date=7 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207184859/http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/m_brutus.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The other conspirators crowded round to offer their support. Within moments, the group of five conspirators stabbed Caesar one by one. Caesar attempted to get away, but, being drenched by blood, he tripped and fell. According to Roman historian [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], around 60 or more men participated in the assassination. Caesar was stabbed 23 times and died from the blood loss attributable to multiple stab wounds.<ref>Woolf{{page needed|date=May 2021}}</ref><ref>Suetonius, ''Julius'', c. 82.</ref>